Initially, I was unsure if I would need the 7mm-08 Rem die to step the brass down to set the shoulder of the Creedmoor cartridge. Ultimately, it is not needed, but it does make the process a bit easier, especially if your bench is not sturdy, or your press is not securely fastened to the bench….or if you’re not physically able to apply the required amount of pressure to go from a .308 Win to a 6.5 CM in one pass.
Before I go into the steps, all of the brass used was true once fired, MILSPEC, Lake City headstamp, 7.62×51, and I did not anneal the brass beforehand. After doing these conversions, I did a few more using some of our annealed Lake City 308 brass. Working with our ready-to-load brass was far easier as the body of the case had already been resized, and the neck and shoulder area was softer due to annealing.
Step by Step
Lubricate. There’s an increased chance for a stuck case if the proper amount of lube is not applied or if your reloading setup isn’t sturdy enough to support you in applying additional force to set the shoulder. Choosing a die with the lube relief port is important, as without it, lube dents will be more prevalent.
.308 to 7mm-08. Run the case up into the 7mm-08 Rem trim die. If you don’t have the trim die, you can use a full-length or Body die with the expander removed. Leaving the expander installed serves no purpose at this point.
7mm-08 to 6.5 CM. Run the case up into the 6.5 CM trim die. This sets the shoulder of the 6.5 and trims the estimated 0.1″ or more of excess. Assuming your trimmer and die were set correctly, you’ll have a 6.5mm Creedmoor cartridge with the proper headspace and trim length. Either way, we’ll give it one more pass in a 6.5mm FL resize die before we finish.
Neck Turning. The goal of neck turning is to reduce the neck wall thickness. The military 762 brass is far too thick, and the brass is not likely to chamber as is. This step’s bonus is that your necks will be far more concentric than before. None of our reloading manuals specified a neck wall thickness, so we measured a factory-new Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge. Essentially, this equated to having to turn the neck so no portion of the neck was left unturned.
Final Resizing. Using an FL Resizing die, I gave the brass one last resize to ensure the expander ball had a chance to set the I.D. of the neck. Returning to Step 3, we used a body-only / trim die, which only resized the O.D. After turning the necks, we must reset these O.D. and I.D. measurements.
Anneal. It’s always a good idea to anneal your brass. If done properly, it will extend the life (your investment) of your brass and keep neck tension consistent, which I believe is important when the goal is to put 5 bullets in one hole.
